Landspeeds E-bike Conversion (Mk2)

[landspeed]

OK, a few weeks ago I got myself a cheap bike from the local bike shop; my car was getting the 'warrant of fitness' test done - and I needed transport (in NZ, if your car fails this test, it is immediately illegal to drive (except back home), unlike the UK, where you can drive it until the last test runs out). Turns out my car was fine.

I have started using the bike but would love electric motor assistance too (and will need it if I'm going to commute to work and be in a reasonable state when I arrive!).

So far, I have pumped up the tyres, and used black electrical tape on the handlebars (they had some stupid oily gel leaking out?? which stains your hands). I also intend to, quite quickly, get a new seat (although the current seat makes it less desirable to steal...)

The bike :



The hub motor :



I have various electronics (including an ignition key!) but need the controller, and the batteries, and the charger. I'm off to order those now, and will install the wheel tomorrow (the main challenge there being that the wheel has a 7 gears, and the bike has 6 gears on the current wheel (and they are *indexed*). So I will swap them over for now...

[Lug_Nut]

If the spacing betwen the planes of the freewheel gears is equal you might find it un-necessary to exchange freewheels. The detents in the shifter lever moved the cable some amount. If that amount of motion matches the lateral distance between the gears on the freewheel then you at absolute worst, use six of the seven. However, since the last one has a positive stop instead of a detent, you might find that the 7th can use the stop instead of the last of the six with both detent and stop.
If the amount of cable length pulled between detents isn't enough, slip a piece of small diameter tubing over the cable and wrap the tube up to the shifter lever. The increase of the tubing wall thickness will effectively increase the diameter of the lever. Each x number of degrees between the detents will now pull a slight bit more cable length, maybe matching the wider gap between freewheel gears.
If the cable pull length between detents is too much, then look if the cable anchor at the rear derailleur can be repositioned to reduce the lateral stroke per detent. Often this is possible by merely moving the cable from one side of the anchor pinch bolt to the other.

[landspeed]

First powerup of e-bike wheel tonight - recorded on my phone and posted on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ia7A1Vdh60

I particularly like how the wheel span up to 'full speed' instantly (slow due to 12v). If you try to hold it still then power it up, it tries to rip itself out of your hand due to the high torque

Lug Nut - I do have some funny problems with the gears being a bit out of line - but will get that sorted soon.

Still waiting for my 36v 10Ah NiMH to be ready for order from the states... Think I will send another email off (they had trouble getting the batteries they need). Will be worth it though, for the range + better lifespan + lighter weight.

[landspeed]

My e-bike as it currently is:



With the wheel fitted, gears working (sort of!), and rideable (I have done a few kilometres with no problems).

Currently just waiting for the battery to come from the US (with the company having a delay in receiving the batteries to build it with). Can't wait
to get some use out of it once the battery is fitted

[landspeed]

Mmmm... So I have a bit of a problem at the moment.

The company who I have been waiting for the battery from (from late 2007...) have just realised that they don't send stuff to New Zealand.

When asking why, they say because of the prohibitive postage costs overseas (initially, they just said 'oh, didn't see that you were in NZ, we don't ship overseas, sorry to take your time'). When asking 'why', they said the postage costs are too high.

I have now asked, out of interest, whether that makes a difference as I would be happy to pay postage anyway . We will see what the outcome of this is.

The DeWalt 36V A123 M1 batteries are looking a LOT more interesting now. I have even found a tutorial on how to dissect the battery pack for use in (model aircraft) or other things.

I think I will get myself a pack of those and be done with it, will be cheaper than the NIMHs too... 1/4 the capacity, 1/3 the price (and the capacity is easily enough for what I need it for anyway)...

[landspeed]

OK, 6 months have passed since I enquired about batteries. I have everything else I need for the e-bike except the battery and charger. I have given up on the company I wanted to get a 10Ah 36V NiMH battery from. So, instead, I will be getting 3x 12V 24Ah SLA batteries, weighing in at maybe 7kg each and a charger to go with those. I am getting them very cheap. I will post a series of pictures once I get them fitted, and probably a video of the e-bike in action!

Looking forward to going for MONTHS between filling petrol tanks soon